An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed a quote to Lawrence Powell when it was Jonathan Green who was speaking. The error has been corrected.

Mobile town halls, increased bike access on roads and expanding the city limits were just a few of the ideas proposed by the six Pensacola mayor candidates during the News Journal's candidate forum Monday night.

The Pensacola Little Theatre was almost filled to capacity as Pensacolians came out to hear from candidates Grover Robinson, Drew Buchanan, David Mayo, Lawrence Powell, Jonathan Green and Brian Spencer.

Brian Spencer shares his plan for Pensacola during the mayor candidate forum, hosted by the Pensacola News Journal, on Monday, July 30, 2018, at the Pensacola Little Theatre. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

Grover Robinson shares his plan for Pensacola during the mayor candidate forum, hosted by the Pensacola News Journal, on Monday, July 30, 2018, at the Pensacola Little Theatre. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

Drew Buchanan shares his plan for Pensacola during the mayor candidate forum, hosted by the Pensacola News Journal, on Monday, July 30, 2018, at the Pensacola Little Theatre. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

David Mayo shares his plan for Pensacola during the mayor candidate forum, hosted by the Pensacola News Journal, on Monday, July 30, 2018, at the Pensacola Little Theatre. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

Jonathan Green shares his plan for Pensacola during the mayor candidate forum, hosted by the Pensacola News Journal, on Monday, July 30, 2018, at the Pensacola Little Theatre. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

Lawrence Powell shares his plan for Pensacola during the mayor candidate forum, hosted by the Pensacola News Journal, on Monday, July 30, 2018, at the Pensacola Little Theatre. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

Spencer said public safety and keeping Pensacola one of the safest cities in Florida were among his priorities.

"The safety of our citizens is one of the most important priorities in which people will make decisions about how they feel about investing here, living here and growing their families here," Spencer said.

Spencer said another goal is to attract businesses by making Pensacola a place where people want to live.

"Cities are in a fierce competition to attract employers and to attract the workforce that is so mobile," Spencer said.

Robinson agreed public safety is important and said it would also be one of his top priorities.

"It's one of the reasons we pay the 4.29 mills to live in the city," Robinson said. "We expect a certain level of public safety, fire and police."

Robinson added he would focus on improving city infrastructure to build out what companies need to do business in the city.

"We need to be doing all that we can so that this is the place that we want to come," Robinson said.

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Hundreds of people listen during the mayor candidate forum, hosted by the Pensacola News Journal, on Monday, July 30, 2018, at the Pensacola Little Theatre.(Photo11: Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com)

Buchanan said his top priorities would be the economy, environment and equity.

"We need to find something outside tourism, outside military that Pensacola can focus on and grab a hold of," Buchanan said. "We need to be a city of innovation, and whatever that innovation is, we need to find out and find out soon."

Buchanan said increasing affordable housing in the city would also be one of his priorities.

"The fact is, if you are young, if you are old, if you live on a fixed income, if you don't have a job, and you want to live in Pensacola, then you might have a tough time right now," Buchanan said. "That's a problem, and we need a mayor that's going to focus on it. And take steps to act on it."

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Candidates for Pensacola mayor gather for a forum Monday at the Pensacola Little Theatre. The forum was hosted by the Pensacola News Journal.(Photo11: Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com)

David Mayo also said public safety would be a top priority and mentioned that his grandfather was killed on duty as a constable.

"Our family knows first-hand the sacrifice of our first responders," Mayo said.

However, Mayo contradicted Spencer's assertion that Pensacola was one of Florida's safest cities.

"Do you know we are among the fifth worst in the state of crime in our city?" Mayo said. "I guarantee you as mayor, we will focus like a laser on shoring up the pay and the support, the resources and the tools of first responders."

Powell said his top priority would be building the trust of citizens in their city government.

"How do you do that?" Powell said. "That's through the full transparency and accountability within our government, starting with our mayor."

Once that's done, he would begin working on economic development, Powell said.

"Infrastructure is paramount," Powell said. "You can't go forward with development and building on top of things if you're not paying attention to the existing infrastructure and the sustainment of future infrastructure."